[muffled spooky scary skeletons playing in the distance]

[geonomy]

Who: You! Me! Everybody!
Broadcast: idk but we've sure got a pretty broad cast of folks eh, eh
Action: HECK YEAH PLANET MINGLE
When: 10/7 until plot update or recaptcha

It's a deep, deep forest filled to the brim with fungi, mysterious life forms, and pitch black darkness. Explore if you dare and discover all these things and more! Just don't get lost...

Comments

[exothermia]

I did, but that was quite a while ago. I didn't do quite so much of it when I lived with Magda.

[It wasn't so much a lack of desire or some preconceived notion of who did what tasks, as practicality. Magda spent more time in the home than he did, and he was always last home after finishing at the factory. It made more sense for her to cook. He still did his part on weekends.]

[noprophecies]

Did she do most of the cooking, then?

[exothermia]

On most nights.

[He wipes his sleeve across his forehead, considering what the nuts could be used for.]

Depending on how it works out, I could powder them and use it as a flour replacement.

[noprophecies]

[she makes a noise, but doesn't ask any further about Magda. That he even volunteered information about her without prompting was enough for her]

Is that not what corn is for? I didn't know you could do it with nuts as well.

[exothermia]

Yes. But I don't have any corn.

[noprophecies]

I'm just asking. I don't know a lot about this sort of thing, as you know.

[exothermia]

I don't either, really. I've never had to make things like flour from scratch before.

[Even in Poland, that was a level of self-sufficiency they hadn't needed to get to.] If you like, you're welcome to test the results of whatever I make.

[noprophecies]

I would love to test whatever it is you make. I will never turn down free food.

[and she'd never turn down Erik's cooking, either]

[exothermia]

Well... now I'll have to come up with something.

[noprophecies]

I will look forward to it.

[exothermia]

[He's quiet for a while, working on the plants, but there's another thought knocking around in his head. It refuses to leave him alone, and so he must venture it. The fact that Aurae is around to hear it is a stroke of luck.]

I think I'm going to do something for Charles. Him and Raven.

[noprophecies]

[she glances up curiously, then hums a bit quietly and moves to sit closer to him once more]

What were you thinking of doing?

[exothermia]

I'm not sure yet. Something physical, I think.

[He sighs, sitting back on his heels.]

It's all well and good to say I can take my time with things. But it doesn't feel right, to do nothing.

[noprophecies]

Something . . . physical. I'm not sure what you mean by that.

[she purses her lips, shifting to sit so she can draw her knees up and lean on them]

There is a difference between taking your time and doing nothing, though, Erik.

[exothermia]

Well, I meant giving them something. [There's value in the tangible, and it's something he's more adept at than actions or words, at the moment.]

I know. Both can happen at the same time, though.

[noprophecies]

Ah, a present. That would be a nice idea. [she's reminded of the ring Charles had worked to make for him, that she had helped with, and wonders if that's what Erik means]

I know it can.

[exothermia]

[He looks away, prodding at the dirt with a finger.]

They've done a lot for me. They even did something for my birthday. [It was that, more than anything, that really sunk into his heart. He had expected nothing from anyone, but they had kept him company on that day. Erik doubts he would have made it through without crying himself sick otherwise.]

[noprophecies]

It is like I told you, yes? They love you. It was nice of them to do something for you.

[she distinctly doesn't think back to her first birthday without her parents or her village, because that isn't a road she wants to go down again]

—wait. When was your birthday?

[exothermia]

November third.

[noprophecies]

. . . [she takes one of the nuts she collected and tosses it at him, huffing]

[exothermia]

[He jerks back, and scowls at her.]

What?

[noprophecies]

I had no idea your birthday was this month.

[exothermia]

I didn't tell anyone. [He had tried to forget it himself, honestly.] Frankly I'm not sure how they knew. I must have told one of them years ago.

[noprophecies]

I would be surprised if Charles didn't know when your birthday was, honestly.

[she considers throwing another nut] You could have said something, at least.

[then again, she wouldn't have done anything the day of, either. But she is glad that someone did]

[exothermia]

[That's true enough - he might have found out one of the times their minds were weaved together. Those days they spent on the Hand-Holding planet were more together than they had ever been. He swallows against the thought, and pushes ahead.]

I didn't want to. [Best to be honest.] But... it reminded me of what I haven't done in return.